Home for the Holidays
by iowatobroadway
Summary: Karen convinces Derek to come to Iowa with her for the holidays. One-shot.


**A/N:** This is just a quick little late holiday fic, mostly inspired by how cold and snowy it is outside here.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own "Smash" or any of the characters, though I would have been quite happy to have Derek show up under my Christmas tree.

* * *

"It's bloody freezing out here," Derek said as he and Karen walked out of the theater.

"Yeah, it's a little chilly," Karen said with a smile.

Derek stared at her. "A little chilly?"

"Well, okay, it's pretty cold," Karen said. "Still, it gets colder in Iowa. Us Midwesterners are hearty."

"Remind me not to visit Iowa in the winter," Derek said.

"Actually, that reminds me," Karen said. "I was wondering if you would come with me to visit my parents for the holidays."

Derek gave her a suspicious look. "Are you just saying that because of what I just said?"

Karen laughed. "No, I think it's about time you see where I grew up, and Christmas seems as good a time as any. Of course, if you don't want to come to Iowa in the winter…"

"No, I'll come," Derek said. "I've always been curious where all that talent came from."

"Well, I will book the tickets then," Karen said. "So, what do you say we go inside and warm up a bit?"

Derek smiled and pulled Karen closer to him. "I can think of a few ways to warm up."

* * *

Derek and Karen were both looking out the window as the plane flew over Iowa. Many called Iowa a "flyover state," but they were planning to land here and spend the next several days here. Derek was actually a little nervous. He had met Karen's parents before, but he had never seen their home, and this would be the first time he would spend a significant amount of time with them.

Karen smiled. "Well, we will certainly have a white Christmas."

A thick blanket of snow covered the grass and trees. At least it was cleared off of the pavement so that the plane could land.

Karen's parents were waiting for them in the baggage area. They both gave Karen a hug before turning to Derek.

"Welcome to Iowa," Roger said, shaking his hand.

"I'm so happy that you could come, Derek," Caroline said warmly.

"I'm glad that I could come, too," Derek said. "It's lovely to see both of you again."

"Well, you'll see plenty of us over the next several days," Roger said. "I'm sure that we'll get to know each other a lot better."

Derek wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Karen must have read his mind because she took his hand and kissed him on the cheek.

"My parents are going to love you," Karen said.

* * *

Karen could tell that Derek was a little uncomfortable being at her parents' house. There was some extended family visiting as well, so the house was a little crowded.

"I know we have a lot of family here for Christmas," Karen said. "But most of them will be leaving tomorrow. It'll just be you, me, and my parents until New Year's."

Derek smiled. "It's fine, love. I'm just not used to it, that's all."

"Well, maybe we could go out later and take a walk in the snow," Karen said. "It's so pretty outside."

"It's also rather cold outside," Derek said.

"Well, that just means we'll have to work a little harder to keep each other warm," Karen said, brushing her hand along his arm.

Derek smiled. "Maybe you're right. We wouldn't want to miss out on the beauty of winter in Iowa."

* * *

Derek couldn't believe that he was actually building a snowman with Karen. It had all started when Karen was singing "Winter Wonderland" to him as they were walking. When she had gotten to the "In the meadow, we can building a snowman" lyric, she had stopped singing and said, "Ooh, we should build a snowman!"

"You want to build a snowman? Darling, I have never built a snowman."

Karen looked surprised. "Not even when you were a kid?"

Derek shook his head. "No, I didn't really play in the snow much."

Karen took his arm. "Well, we need to remedy that. Come on!"

So, here he was, building a snowman with Karen. She was laughing and clearly having a lot of fun. To be honest, he was having fun, too. He just loved being with Karen. He was even forgetting how cold it was out here.

"There," Karen said, as she wrapped her scarf around their new snowman.

"Aren't you going to get cold without your scarf?" Derek asked.

Karen wrapped up her arms around his neck. "Not when I have you to warm me up."

As their lips met, Derek realized that he was beginning to like winter and the holidays a bit more, at least when he got to spend them with Karen.

* * *

"Have you ever stood outside to watch the ball drop?" Karen asked.

They were having a quiet little New Year's Eve celebration with her parents. They were drinking champagne, and Karen's parents had their TV tuned into the Times Square New Year's Eve special.

"Are you joking? Standing out there in the cold with a bunch of strangers to watch some ball drop? That is not my idea of a fun way to bring in the New Year."

Karen laughed. "Dev and I actually tried it one time. We didn't last very long, though. It was too cold."

"Too cold? Even for a hearty Midwesterner like you?"

"Yep, even for me," Karen said, smiling. "Anyway, how do you prefer to spend New Year's Eve?"

"I prefer to spend it with the woman I love," Derek said, putting his arms around Karen. "I love you, Karen Cartwright."

"I love you, too, Derek Wills," Karen said. "Happy New Year."

As they kissed, Karen had a feeling this was going to be a very good year.


End file.
